Right, I've had misgivings about Finland defaulting to Soviet control in the event of it going to the Allies from the start (just like I have similar questions about Romania and Yugoslavia going to the Western Allies), but I was happy to overlook them. Now my latest 1940 start game has made it obvious there's something wrong with the system.

To start with, I played through WWII and had crushed the Axis by 1942/3ish before going on to opt for a NG+ and war with the Soviet Union, which naturally resets diplomatic values for the surviving neutrals across the board. So far, so good.

Only there were two major problems: I was (somehow) able to prevent the Fall of France and the Italian entry into the war. However, in light of Italy not being a threat any more with the Pact of Steel being rendered void (due to the collapse of the senior partner), the French possessions in the Med *did not* unfreeze to help with the new, greater war against the USSR. At best, this strikes me as a dubious decision, and at worse it's a bug.

However, the second problem absolutely was a bug. In light of the pro-Axis neutrals (Sweden, Finland, Italy, etc) going neutral in the new war with the Soviets, I decided to go on a diplomatic offensive to support my military one and deny the USSR the resources from neutral trade. In particular, I focused my efforts on Finland because of its' high volatility, its' historical grievances with the Soviet Empire, is' military prowess, and most importantly its' position next to the Soviet Union meaning I could actually flip it.

So after furiously trying and failing multiple times to sign a trade agreement, I finally succeed and send my men into Leningrad to flip it from Leaning to Pro before moving on. After two turns, I rejoice when I get the notice that Finland has joined the Allies.

I was infinitely *LESS* happy when it turned Orange, declared war on me, and I suddenly had to deal with Soviet forces in my rear. Mind, it wasn't much of a *threat* by then since I had basically smashed the Soviets and could try and handwave it as some sort of pro-Soviet coup against the government for signing the alliance, but it's still incredibly bad form.

I can only imagine the problems a Soviet player would have when their hard-won diplomatic victories fly out in incredibly odd directions. The only consolation I can figure is that since they seem to belong to the Axis, the new territories would belong to Germany (which would then be allied to the Soviets...), but even that is just conjecture on my part.

TL;DR: The WA vs. Soviet NG+ screws with diplomacy in unpredictable and unpleasant ways, and needs fixing. Any ideas how?